Woman died after falling from cliff on dog walk

A Devon woman died after she tried to retrieve her dog from a cliff edge, an inquest has heard.

Keeleigh Plant, from Galmpton, Devon, had been walking her two pet cockapoo dogs with her boyfriend one afternoon in May 2023 when she died.

The 18-year-old and Oliver Griffiths were walking dogs Bertie and Cooper off their leads at Hope Cove, near Kingsbridge, when they began chasing a wild rabbit.

Speaking at an inquest at Exeter Coroner's Court on Tuesday, coroner's officer Jim Stein said: "One of the dogs did not come back on command, so Keeleigh ran after the dog and, sadly, fell off the side of the cliff."

Ms Plant plunged 100ft (30m) on to a rocky beach and died from multiple injuries despite the best efforts of rescuers and people in the area to save her, the hearing was told.

Mr Griffiths said the dogs were off their leads when they saw the rabbit.

They were "both trying to get them back" as they stepped over a low wooden railing near the edge, he told the inquest.

They grabbed Cooper and put him on his lead but Ms Plant was leaning over a few feet from the cliff edge trying to retrieve Bertie.

Mr Griffiths said he could only partially see her but then she fell and he did not know if she had lost her footing or the cliff edge had crumbled.

"I was not close enough to grab her," he said.

A lady sitting on a bench nearby said she could hear Ms Plant "calling the dog" and could see her bottom as she leaned over the cliff edge.

"I did not hear her scream. She was not pushed," said the witness.

She said the young couple were on the cliffs for 10 minutes "trying to get the dog back".

Police went to the scene and said the cliff edge was uneven and jagged but there were no suspicious circumstances.

Ms Plant had been due to take a gap year before going to the University of Winchester to study finance.

Her mother Pauline said her daughter was "quite a private person and home was her safe place" but was a good student who asked for additional school work.

Alison Longhorn, area coroner for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, recorded a conclusion of accidental death.

She said the teenager died while attempting to retrieve her dog, adding: "This was a really tragic accident.

"Sadly, cliffs are dangerous places and people try to rescue their dogs without thinking of their own safety."

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